Graffiti? Poetry? Song Lyrics? Campaign Slogan? Got me, but it sure is interesting. Better than the highbrow FU stuff and gang markings that we see so often. I originally took this photo because it's an store once owned by Brian's relatives.
There it is. A small chip we picked up by the side of the road. This is what has fueled our country (and the world) for two plus centuries and is one of the foundations of the industrial revolution and therefore our modern world. In Southwest Virginia today, it is the heart of the battle between corporate self interest, economic depression, and the environment. This is Coal.
And these are my thoughts, observations, and photographs from a recent visit Lowell and I made to coal country. Before getting started, I'd like to thank Brian and his wife Jayne for their gracious hospitality and for showing us around. It was a whirlwind tour and I'm sure we missed much, but in that short time we also learned and saw much. Thank you again - you guys are great!
ON TRANSPORTATION
It couldn't be more different than what we get on a daily basis in Northern Virginia. This fact was not part of the learning experience - I fully expected it to be very different and it was. Ultimately the NOVA and SWVA folks probably spend similar amounts of time in their vehicles: the trade off is traffic for distance. The difference being that on a good traffic day (rare) in NOVA we can get to our destination fairly quickly. In SWVA the distance and time are almost always the same (unless you get stuck behind one of those really slow moving trucks).
In SWVA you can stop in the middle of a two lane 55 mph road, look at something, take a picture, and get going again without a problem. In NOVA, if you slowed to 45 on 55 mph road you'd be run over. The lack of traffic was very refreshing.
Graffiti? Poetry? Song Lyrics? Campaign Slogan? Got me, but it sure is interesting. Better than the highbrow FU stuff and gang markings that we see so often. I originally took this photo because it's an store once owned by Brian's relatives.
Glad Bowman is old enough to be president
And too old to commit adultry
Glad is the man from Frying Pan
One of the things that did strike me was that the roads in SWVA are in better condition than in NOVA. At least the ones we drove on. There were nice, well maintained two lane highways and four lane divided highways. We did end up on one unpaved road for a little while, but almost everywhere we went the roads were in great shape and a joy to travel on.
The sheer volume of traffic in NOVA causes quite a bit of wear and tear on the roads, leaving pot holes broken bits of road in many spots. At least that's true in Fairfax where I do most of my driving. Down in SWVA I don't recall needing to dodge a single pothole or my car rumbling over broken road.
This difference does get into one of the issues we've had some debate upon recently - should a local tax be enacted for places like NOVA to pay for our roads. I can understand the argument made by someone in SWVA that they shouldn't pay an extra few cents in gasoline tax because, quite frankly, their roads are fine and they'd be paying to fix our NOVA roads. Which sounds rather absurd when you consider the economic differences between the two regions. Personally, I still fall in the other camp, believing that everyone should pay in and the state should use the common pooled funds to address problems where ever they appear. But I can see the argument for local taxation (more on this below - and why a statewide tax pool is a good thing for SWVA).
We came around a corner and saw this large field of blue barrels scattered about the hillside in a semi-organized fashion. Having been driving through the woods for quite some time, it was a rather jarring and curious change to suddenly see a field of blue barrels. Disappointment took hold when we found out that this is all part of a rooster farm - raising them for cock fighting.
Another thing that we observed, or more accurately didn't observe, were hybrids. I don't think we saw a single Prius. Brian mentioned that there was one somewhere in the county. Even if we completely ignored the environmental aspects, I'd think the fuel savings alone would be enough to push many people into buying one. With such great distances, going up and down hills, an aerodynamic frame with an electric assisted engine must make a huge difference in mileage. Yet we didn't see a single one. You might be tempted to say that this was because people can't afford a new car - but we saw plenty of late model vehicles. Enough to say that people are choosing not to buy hybrids. Cultural? No dealers? I don't know. But it sure doesn't make any sense to me.
COAL
Our reliance on coal has got to stop. Period. It is not clean despite what Dominion, power companies, and the coal industry desperately want all of us to believe. It is not extracted cleanly, moved cleanly, processed cleanly, and especially not burned cleanly. Better than 100 years ago? Of course. But not nearly clean enough and it's extremely unlikely it'll get to the point it needs to be any time soon.
But what does that mean to coal country? What does it mean to the people who try to make ends meet through coal based employment?
A seam of coal exposed right by the road. This is where we found our sample.
The thing that kept going through my mind was that these coal industries are taking advantage of an economically depressed area, but at the same time the people who are being taken advantage of are getting something they need: jobs. So as appalling as it is to see these people taken advantage of, they are benefiting (at least in the most immediate aspect) from the relationship. Unfortunately, like any relationship of this nature, when the industry no longer needs the people, those people are dropped and forgotten.
Nevertheless, I find it very difficult to argue that coal mining and use should stop right now because right now people are employed by this industry.
If there were alternatives (more on this shortly) the argument is easy. But it appears that there really aren't that many options, so despite how bad coal is it still allows people to make a living when they otherwise couldn't.
There are also great arguments for why this is a bad long term solution. When the coal seams disappear the jobs do to - it's not sustainable over the long term for a given area. The health problems that develop over time are horrible. But when a person needs to feed his family today, the long term issues are not important.
A former company coal town. When the coal dries up the companies leave. People are still living here, but the core support mechanism, coal and the coal company, have long gone.
The abandoned general store in a former company coal town.
Short term jobs vs the environment. Short term jobs vs long term family sustainability.
Are these the false dichotomies that another RK poster (Faithfull) mentioned just yesterday? These exclusive choices sure seem real enough - I'd imagine even more so to the people who have to make those choices. No doubt, it's always difficult to invest for your future when your present needs help now.
So is there a way out? A way to break this dichotomy?
Certainly a three day trip has not given me the insight to solve this problem. But based on our discussions, I feel there is hope to find a solution that isn't just the status quo.
Before I went down, I had envisioned a place where tourism could become a major industry. Instead of destroying the natural beauty, work with it. After visiting I still feel a stronger tourism base could be developed, but not nearly enough to sustain the region by itself. It's simply too far to draw the number of people needed relative to the competition (Smokies to the south, beaches along the east coast of Virginia and NC, West Virginia mountains, Northern Shenandoah, etc). But that doesn't mean an increased reliance on tourism can't be one aspect of a non-coal based economy. There is certainly much that appeals to the outdoor enthusiast - and if promoted properly they will come.
The lake behind Flannagan Dam. I'm sure this area is enjoyed by many locals on nicer days.
Technology appears to offer even more hope. The Internet, the ability to remotely connect to the rest of the world from one's computer, can work just as easily from SWVA as from NOVA. Yes, there are a few more infrastructure and connectivity hurdles in SWVA, but once connected we are all in the same tubes. Meaning that there are both educational and economic opportunities (yes, real jobs) for SWVA residents that otherwise wouldn't be there without the internet. This is fundamental: In our modern world you no longer have to present in a classroom or in an office to effectively learn or produce. And this provides a world of opportunity to those who live outside of major population centers. There is significant opportunity here. Realistically, this isn't an overnight solution. But as today's children grow up with this connectivity, they can (and should) be thinking in terms of online jobs rather than working in the coal industry.
And finally, there is the government. Above I was talking about the common pot of money for taxes related to roads. Well, now it's time to talk about using some of that pot to support the transition away from coal in SWVA. The government could and should step in to support ideas like the two above. Not that those are the only ideas - I'm positive there are many more non-destructive ideas that could be tried successfully if they were properly funded. So instead of the State giving Dominion everything it wants, the State should start giving the residents of SWVA what they need. I'm not talking about handouts or checks. I'm talking about investment in programs, concepts, and infrastructure. Not more roads for the coal companies to haul coal around, infrastructure like better internet connectivity for a clean future. I'm talking about doing studies that think outside the box that'll produce even more clean ideas.
Ralph Stanley Museum. Due to time constraints we didn't get to visit. Hopefully next time. Also, the best place to stay if you're visiting Clintwood.
There is great hope here. We are not simply stuck with a status quo that pits future environmental concerns against today's "food on the table". But in order to get out of this cycle the iron grip the coal, power, and logging industries have on SWVA must be broken. And even more importantly, the grip they have on Richmond must be broken.
And finally, some more photos to end this story - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The view down from Flannagan Dam. Looks like a great park down below but unfortunately we didn't have time to see it.
This beauty is what it's all about. Or at least what it should be all about.
More mountain removal. The stone quarries are just as ugly as the coal strip mining, but at least aren't dumping insane volumes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Cool looking decorated barn by the side of the road.
Kudzu. We were trying to figure out what this stuff was as we drove in - it hangs like hair over everything it touches. Thankfully it hasn't taken over the entire region, but it has found its way onto a number of hillsides and rock cliffs.
Clintwood Court House.
Stone and sign in front of the museum.
Strip mining with a lovely green "lake" below. In the Caribbean I like green water. Here? Let's just say I wouldn't want to go swimming in there.
Dominion and the coal companies buy the residents out at twice the market value so they can knock down the mountain without concern. Buying this house probably cost them less than a full page greenwashing ad in the Washington Post.
An underground mine. The coal is coming up the conveyor belt and being piled where the bulldozer loads it into the waiting truck.
Coal bed methane. Not great, but certainly better than coal.
An old, but still in operation, lumber yard. Brian tells us that there is hardly any old growth forest due to the timber industry in the early 20th century.
I'm not a hunter, but it's clear that this is another opportunity to make money off the land without destroying it. Properly managed hunting programs could be a great benefit locally while causing little environmental or ecological damage.
2. I don't think raising roosters is illegal even though everyone knows (wink, wink) what they'll be used for. I'm pretty sure the only way to get these guys is to catch them in the act of fighting (which wasn't visible from the road).
Are there such things as guard roosters? Does that require a "Beware of Rooster" sign? :-)
The region is fabulous and worthy of a trip over an extended weekend. Its amazing to see what is left from coal's heyday in the early 20th century, especially in the most remote areas of the region. I found May the best month to visit. Its just an incredibly beautiful and isolated place. When hiking or driving up some sparsely mountain road, the sight of it will hit you when you come across it. Its pretty much sucks to see what the coal industry is doing that's for sure. Check out Google maps under the satellite mode and you'll see the extent of it.
Last night I came across vbs.tv and found a video series about mountaintop removal in West Virginia's Lower Painted Creek basin. Not sure if they have been posted here or not, but for me not only do they bring back alot of memories, but they do an worthy and accurate job on the issue.
Warning: The foul language in spots is bad, primarily in in clips 2 & 3.
I like 4 and 5 the best.
Toxic West Virginia
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
cookie mountain
Good idea about hunting as a post-coal industry for SW Virginia. Wise County is probably the best kept hunting secret in Virginia. My father-in-law and I made the 5 hour drive to hunt there for a week last November because they have a lot of large, mature bucks plus the remote yet real chance of stumbling across an elk that wandered over from Kentucky.
Making that work as a source of local income is difficult but it can happen. First, Wise County would have to adopt Quality Deer Management. This is a whole approach to managing land and deer populations in order to create a high percentage of large bucks (personally, I mostly hunt for food and thus usually go for does).
Turning hunting into local revenue would also depend on large tracts of privately owned land being opened up to exclusive hunting through a network of local guides. Then the hunters are paying for access to what would need to be high-quality wildlife habitat, which is money in the local economy. They pay the guide, who should know the local terrain and the specific habits of deer in that area. They pay to use a camp or a motel room or to stay in a lodge. They pay for meals. And maybe they pay someone to process the deer for them, plus they pay a taxidermist to mount the trophy.
There are areas of Iowa, Kansas and Saskatchewan that have turned hunting into a significant local industry. It can be done and there are examples to look for. I think that Wise County has the potential to do this in terms of deer genetics in the area, presence of large tracts of potentially good habitat and a generally unique landscape that is worth seeing for it's own merits. When you get up into some of those hills along the back of the Thomas Jefferson National Forest, there are places where you could swear that you are standing in the foothills of the Rockies.
By the way, if you make another trip out there, go and take a look at some of the abandoned strip mines that were last worked 30 or 40 years ago. Some of them are pretty amazing, in the sense that they become oases of level ground and ponds in an otherwise steep terrain. You get meadows and ponds there which constitute micro climates, supporting wildlife that would otherwise be far more scarce. The potential to take even the post-coal landscape and turn it into stunning wildlife habitat is incredible. The Sierra Club and Ducks Unlimited have worked together on some of those restoration projects and they would know exactly how to go about it.
Which leads me to an addition/question to what you were describing as a hunting revenue model. What would be a reasonable rate to pay a land owner for shooting one of "his" deer? It seems the guides could make deals to hunt on private land - which would likely include an extra fee if the hunters got a deer on that land. If the price was right I'd bet that many of these protective land owners would open up to trusted (i.e. local) tour guides.
To get up to that $1,000+ level, they would have to have been implementing Quality Deer Management for several years. Cull the right number of does (what with the lack of predators), plant food plots, clear brush to allow high-protein forage to grow. Then after a couple of really exceptional deer get taken, the specialty whitetail deer hunting magazines will take note and start writing articles about Wise County. They'd send writers down to see if it really is a new hot spot. And then when the County gets a national reputation for big deer, land-owners who have been managing their land properly get to cash in in a big way.
It has to be a bunch of landowners doing this. You've got to have enough land in QDM to have a lot of trophy deer getting harvested and thus develop the kind of national reputation that brings in the big money.
This can be dual use land, by the way. If you have 1,000 acres and 900 of them are planted in mixed hardwoods for timber harvesting with the rest in fields and a little farmland, those other uses can continue. You clear out a few patches here and there in the woods to create different food sources and edge habitat that provides cover for fawns. Maybe dig out a pond or 2 to guarantee year round water sources. Allow local hunters to cull the proper number of does and bucks with poor genetics (these aren't wasted - the meat gets eaten just like any other deer). Let the small bucks live long enough to turn into big bucks and pass on their good genes.
You're really only taking away a fraction of the overall parcel from timber growth and farming. So you'll get the money from the logging when you eventually log each area on the parcel, you get any farming revenue, and then the trophy money is basically gravy.
Seriously dedicated whitetail trophy hunters are an odd bunch. Those who live in areas with poor deer genetics will travel anywhere that might be a whitetail trophy hot spot and pay enormous fees. These guys save their pennies all year for the big trip when the season starts.
The key to the whole thing is good genetics in the first place. Wise County has that.
The problem right now at this moment is that new diesels are few and far between. Even used. We are just in the process of getting things cleaned up. My understanding is that sometime this summer, VW will start to ship the new diesels which will be 50-state EPA compliant. And once the new ones are out there, then it will cause some people to upgrade, which will free up some used ones as well.
People have found that by driving slower in 5th gear (about 50mph) you can get fuel economy above 60mpg. Perhaps even as high as 70. There was a TDIClub meeting in Philly a year and a half ago - one fellow drove this slow all the way from Salt Lake City, and got 72mpg for the whole trip, I think. The highway patrol pulled him over at one point for driving too slow - he pointed out that the posted minimum was 45, and he was apparently just over that so he got away without a ticket.
This does point out something about the aerodynamics of current vehicles however, and why vehicles like the Aptera are able to do so phenomenally well. I have no doubt that vehicles that get > 100mpg are possible from an engineering pespective - there are several concept cars out there which prove this to be the case. Consumers might not like them - they might complain about the styling, or claim to be concerned about the crashworthiness. If gas gets to be expensive enough, I suspect people will ultimately have a change of heart.
Is the heater running all the time, or the air-conditioner?
Carrying a heavy load of anything?
Lead footed?
I don't need those answers - they are just things to think about.
two of my co-workers have Prius hybrids as well, my boss and I both get ~46 in summer/winter and ~52 spring/fall (moderate stretches but lots of stop and go in traffic). the lead foot on our team gets 38 in stop and go around Reston, but man he floors it hard all the time...
highway at 70mph is no where near as efficient as highway at 55mph...
sadly my 2006 Prius seems to get the best mileage at 47mph (~55mpg), and I am unwilling to go that slow most of the time along highways... so my mileage is never that good.
Oftentimes when a Congressperson tries to steer a deal of some sort towards their district, one of the things that makes it popular is jobs. It is easy to simply dismiss it as pork, but I think a more nuanced approach is really required. Especially given that we have been shipping all kinds of jobs overseas - anything we can do to keep them here at home has got to help. The idea though is not to just promote make-work projects to bring in jobs, but the projects need to be things that also benefit the nation as a whole.
I'm over-simplifying a bit, but the number of jobs owed to coal isn't what it used to be. Of course, there are the people who fix the machines when they break down and the people who drive the trucks that haul the coal to a railhead. But coal jobs aren't as legion as they are made out to be.
Technology takes time, but there's interest in the private sector generated by "push factors" and all that infrastructure down here you were admiring. Some examples in Southwest Virginia (discussed in more detail here http://www.econdev.vt.edu/farm... found in communities where last miles broadband solutions have tapped into some big fiber backbone investments.